


Baby Name Blues

by CactusPot



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Happy Ending, Pregnancy, Slice of Life, when your dad thinks you're working on college apps but you're writing SW fanfics instead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:40:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CactusPot/pseuds/CactusPot
Summary: “Do you think a name determines who we are?” Rey asked. Her hands rested on her belly; her thumbs twiddled idly.Ben rolled onto his side, facing her. “Is this about the baby’s name?”Rey grinned into the darkness. “Maybe.”______Rey and Ben disagree on what they should name their first child.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 89





	Baby Name Blues

On days when Rey had little else to do, she’d make the short trek across the meadows and settle herself underneath a tree. Where plains met forest, Rey sat and observed. 

She dressed in an empire-waist lilac sundress. In recent months, Rey’s growing belly had forced her her tunics and pants into hiding. It was a change, but admittedly, she didn’t really mind.

_Four more months_ , she mused. _Time flies by_.

Her gaze followed the grass in the meadows. The blades swayed in the afternoon breeze, serene and content. 

A figure appeared in the distance, walking across the rolling meadows. Though she couldn’t see him, Rey knew immediately who it was. The Force rippled in her consciousness, and she closed her eyes. 

A few minutes later, the grass crunched underfoot. Rey’s eyes remained shut as he sat down beside her. Displaced grass tickled her arm.

“Meditating?”

Rey opened her eyes and looked at her husband. “No, just watching.”

Ben’s lips quirked. He plucked a blade of grass from the soil and turned it over in his hands.

She continued, “After a lifetime on Jakku, I swore I’d never take this for granted.”

“The grass? The flowers? The life?” Ben drew his arm around her.

Rey nestled herself into his embrace. “Yes. Exactly.” 

For a while, they sat in tranquility. Ben traced circles on Rey’s arm using the grassblade. Rey absentmindedly.

“The Naberries invited us over for dinner tomorrow night,” Ben said. “I ran into Ryoo on my way here.”

Rey smiled. “I look forward to it.” In the two years since she and Ben settled on Naboo, the Naberries had proven themselves as the most hospitable people Rey had ever known.

“Perhaps,” Rey thought aloud, “we could name the baby after one of them?”

“We haven’t had this discussion yet, have we?” Ben said. He planted a gentle kiss on Rey’s head and abandoned tracing her arm. Instead, he curled her dark hair around his finger.

“No, we haven’t.” Rey glanced at him thoughtfully. “If we have a girl, we could name her after your grandmother.”

“Padmé Solo?” Creases appeared on Ben’s forehead.

“Or maybe Leia.” They both were silent, remembering the general that touched their lives in different ways.

“Let me guess,” Ben said after a minute. “If the baby’s a boy, you want to name him Luke.”

“I think that would be nice,” Rey replied, but the hairs on her skin prickled. She turned so she was directly facing him, and Ben’s arm fell back into his lap. “You don’t want to?”

“I don’t think it’s the best idea, that’s all,” Ben said.

Rey took his hand in hers and was still. Ben stared at the lush Nabooian fields his wife adored. Neither spoke for a long time. Often their souls’ connection rendered words useless.

Rey said, “We don’t need to settle anything now.”

“I know,” Ben answered, not unkindly. “Would you like to go back for dinner?”

“Yes,” Rey replied.

Ben rose from the ground and offered a hand to Rey, who gladly took it. They walked across the fields together and back to their cottage.

* * *

Rey sat alone at her dining table. The windows were open, allowing birdsong to fill the room. A comlink lay on the counter on the opposite side of the room, and her fingers twitched just looking at it.

“Don’t bother getting up,” she muttered under her breath. “They’ll be here soon.”

The birds’ chirping dulled in her ears, and Rey stared at Ben, who now sat across from her.

“They’re not here yet?”

“No. They’re only a few minutes late. I’m not worried.”

“Good.”

Rey smiled. “You don’t have to ‘go on a walk’ every time they visit, you know.”

“I don’t think they’ve accepted me yet. Maybe they never will be.”

“Well they definitely won’t if you keep hiding like this. Where are you, Theed?”

“On the outskirts. In the forest.” He paused, and added, “I don’t care if they hate me or not. I just think this makes it easier for you. Less small talk.”

“If that’s how you feel. Take a pear before you go.” Rey pushed a bowl of fruit to Ben’s side of the table, and he took one.

The door handle jangled. The birds sang again; Rey rose to greet her guests.

Before she reached the door, it swung open, revealing Finn and Poe.

“Rey, did you see that?” Finn gasped, stepping into the foyer. “I opened the door using the Force!”

Rey beamed. “Well, that’s one way to practice.”

The trio embraced warmly.

“It’s only been a few months but I’ve missed this place. Really homey.” Poe admired the vines curling up the walls. “Where’s Kylo Ben?”

“On a walk,” Rey explained. She led the boys into the kitchen. “Ben thinks we’d have a better evening if he didn’t join us.”

Poe and Finn exchanged a look. Rey, accustomed to their hesitancy, ignored it.

She sat down at the head of the table, Poe on her left and Finn on her right. They talked for hours: about Poe’s and Finn’s new jobs on Corellia, Finn’s developing Force abilities, and the luggabeast in the room.

“So how long until Rey Jr. joins us?” Finn asked, leaning across the table with interest. “Three months?”

“Two months,” Rey corrected.

“Damn, it’s been so long since I’ve been around an infant,” Poe commented. Between bites of his pear, he commented, “Don’t let me drop them, Rey.”

Rey chuckled. “I will most definitely not.”

“Do you have any names picked out?” Finn asked.

Rey looked away. “No, not yet.”

“I heard a lot of humans are naming their kids after planets,” Poe said. “Maybe you could name them Jakku. Or Jaccu but with two Cs instead of two Ks.”

“Poe’s on to something there,” Finn agreed, grinning. “Hey, imagine having a daughter named Beebee-Ate.”

“Beebee-Ate Solo!” Poe spread his hands as if he was reading a marquee sign. 

“You two are the worst,” Rey groaned affectionately.

Poe momentarily sobered. “If you have a girl, you could name her after Leia.”

Rey’s eyes went round. “That’s what I suggested!”

Poe softly punched her arm. “Great minds think alike.”

“What’s holding you back?” Finn asked.

Rey admitted, “Ben doesn’t want to name the baby after any Skywalkers. He’s all about letting the past die. Same old mantra.”

“But naming your child after your family is respectful,” Poe said, raising an eyebrow. “You’d be remembering who you’ve lost, and honoring them.”

Finn exhaled. “I’m not Ben, but I think I can see where that’s coming from. He was named after one of his parents’ friends, right?”

Rey nodded. “Obi Wan Kenobi. The Jedi who trained Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.”

“Exactly,” Finn said. “He was named after someone tied up into the Skywalker drama, and look how he turned out.”

“Maybe you should just name the kid after me or Finn,” Poe suggested. “Easy compromise. Not named after a Skywalker, but still honoring a hero.”

“Finn Solo,” Rey said. “Yes, that could work.”

“Really?” Finn and Poe said simultaneously.

“No, not really!”

“Maybe you _should_ let Poe pick out the kid’s name,” Finn said. “I mean, he gave me my name, and I’ve never regretted it.”

“Damn right you haven’t.” Poe smirked. “I have taste.”

“Says the person who suggested the name Jaccu.” Rey rolled her eyes, and they moved on to other topics.

* * *

Two nights later, Rey lay in their bed, devouring a book from the Naboo library system. She wore an elegant cream maternity nightgown gifted to her by the Naberrie clan. Rey had just closed her book when Ben sat down on the bed.

She turned to look at him. Smiling softly, he brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead.

“Ben.” Rey stared up at him, and he accepted the invitation to kiss her softly before settling in beside her. He snuffed the candle on the bedside table so they were in almost total darkness. 

“Do you think a name determines who we are?” Rey asked. Her hands rested on her belly; her thumbs twiddled idly.

“It can,” Ben answered. “Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.”

“Rey Solo. Rey Skywalker. Rey from Nowhere. Did it ever really matter?” Rey mused. “A Rey by any other name is just as sweet. Hmm.”

Ben rolled onto his side, facing her. “Is this about the baby’s name?”

Rey grinned into the darkness. “Maybe.”

“Can’t this wait until morning, sweetheart?”

“It could, but I don’t see why we can’t talk about it now.”

“Alright.” Ben was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

“If we name the baby after my mother, or my uncle, or my dad or grandparents or whoever, that’s one more attachment to the past. I spent years stuck in the legacy of my family. I’m proud of them, you know that. But this baby doesn’t need to be named Leia or Luke to be proud of their ancestry. It’s time to move on.” Ben stopped. 

“You are my new start, Rey. You and the baby.”

Rey leaned in to kiss him, tangling her hand in his thick dark locks, and Ben kissed her back. 

“I love you.”

“I know.”

* * *

The sun had barely come up when Rey had the baby. Ryoo Naberrie had arrived hours earlier with a host of midwives. Ben held Rey’s hand the entire time, so tight that Ryoo asked him multiple times to please relax his grip. When the worst was over and the midwives had left the room, Ben sat beside Rey’s bed as she nursed the newborn.

“For so many years,” Ben said, his voice thick, “I worried about not living up to my grandfather. Worried about disappointing my dad. And now the only thing I’m worried about is disappointing my daughter.” 

Tears pooled in Rey’s eyes. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Ryoo popped her head into the room. “Rey, Ben, there’s a hologram message in the other room. It’s from Finn and Poe Dameron; should I tell them to call back?”

Rey and Ben locked eyes. Ben felt her question, and he sighed. “I’ll talk to them, right now.”

“Thank you,” Rey said softly as he left the room.

Ben sat down in front of the blue hologram. The smiles fell off Poe’s and Finn’s faces.

“Hey there,” Finn said uncertainly. “Where’s Rey?”

“She’s with the baby right now,” Ben replied. “It’s a girl.”

Finn grinned. “That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

“Rey must be so excited,” Poe added.

“She is,” Ben affirmed. “We are.”

“Have... you guys picked out a name yet?” Finn asked.

Ben nodded. “We settled on it the other day. It’s Derillé Solo.”

“Deer-ih-lei?” Finn annunciated, squinting.

“No. Deh-rih-lei.” Ben hesitated before adding, “It’s Nabooian.”

“That’s a nice name.” Poe nodded, nudging Finn’s shoulder. “It’s new, but it has that ‘lei’ at the end. Reminds me of Leia.”

“Yeah. It does.” Ben smiled softly. Poe, who had also been smiling, stopped and coughed.

“Well, we should get going now,” Poe said.

Finn waved. “We’ll be out to visit soon. Tell Rey to call us when she has the chance!”

“I will,” Ben replied. “May the Force be with you.”

“May the Force be with you,” they chorused before ending the Hologram.

Ben returned to join Rey and Derillé. The baby was sleeping, so Rey passed her up to Ben. With his daughter in his arms, Ben watched the sun rise.

**Author's Note:**

> The concept that Ben and Rey live on Naboo post-TROS is from this alternate ending written by KateOfTheCanals (https://kateofthecanals.tumblr.com/post/189850709681/tros-fix-it-ending). This is so beautifully written; if you haven't read it I highly recommend. 
> 
> I haven't consumed any sequels content outside of the actual movies (so I haven't read books/comics/etc.); I did my best to stay true to the characters, hopefully no one is too OOC.
> 
> First Star Wars fanfic, yay~.


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